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Here Thar Be Monsters!

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2.3.17

The Marketer In Chief

I suppose it would be apropos to address Trump's first State of the Union address. Spoiler alert: he did fine, Don Lemon and Nancy Pelosi hated it, and folks who voted for him are vastly relieved that his marketing and media skills are still intact.

For non-American readers, the State of the Union address is an annual political orgy in the US when the entire roster of federal government blow-hards are assembled in the House of Representatives and the President is supposed to report the activities and finances of the Executive Branch. In practice, the president uses it to bully Congress and the Supreme Court into accepting his agenda for the coming year, while at the same time showing off his tail-feathers to the vast unwashed masses. This speech is immediately followed by the president's proposed budget for the coming year.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed. Trump never once said "bigly", which is my favorite Trumpverb. I was irritated, though, by the logical disconnect of building up the military to maintain US hegemony over the world, while at the same time saying that his focus would be on "America First".

I can only imagine this means the US will continue to bomb the snot out of any country that doesn't accept McDonald's, Starbucks and Microsoft dominance of their economies (i.e. paying fealty to the throne).

The bottom line is that the US military will continue being the primary means of winning hearts and minds the world over, protecting US markets, while sealing off the US domestic market from competition.

I noted that Trump did not once mention the Constitution or its long-standing prohibition of a standing military. Details. Who needs 'em?

The one duty the President is supposed to have - control of borders and immigration - is the one that no one wants him to exercise. The left wing of The Party, known as the Democrats, audibly groaned when Trump proposed to form a task force to investigate and publish statistics on immigrant crime. Considering illegal immigrants have already committed the crime of entering the country without following the proscribed process, it seems reasonable for the Executive Branch to compile and inform the country on just how many people are breaking immigration laws, and what other laws they are breaking once they enter the country.

It did not escape my attention that Trump made a point of introducing his wife, the First Lady, who is a legal immigrant and the best-looking Presidential Spouse the country has had since Jackie Kennedy, and probably since Dolly Madison created the unofficial position of First Lady.

All in all, it was a fairly standard affair, with lots of rabble-rousing and propagandistic nods to the military. Trump is probably the most relaxed speaker in the office since Ronald Reagan, and his somewhat informal style of delivery played well to the cameras. The spring-loaded chairs in the audience got a bit annoying, though. It almost got to the point that they were jumping up and clapping every time Trump cleared his throat, but that's an expected part of the spectacle.

To the rest of the world, the State of the Union address means little. It's just a national pep-rally. But out here in the real world, we do note those things that are NOT said, like the word "Russia". It was vaguely entertaining, though and we were impressed with how well Trump handled himself and how relaxed and in control he appeared. Of course, an event like this is tailor-made for egos the size of Trump's.

All in all, nice words, well delivered. Now, let's see how all this plays out in action. Don't forget that on the walls behind Trump as he spoke are the two very large fasces that are the defining symbol of Fascism.